78th New York State Legislature

78th New York State Legislature
← 77th 79th →
The Old State Capitol (1879)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1855
Senate
Members	32
President	Lt. Gov. Henry J. Raymond (W)
Temporary President	Josiah B. Williams (W), from January 22
Party control	Whig (18-10-4)
Assembly
Members	128
Speaker	DeWitt C. Littlejohn (W)
Party control	Whig
Sessions
1st January 2 – April 14, 1855

The 78th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 14, 1855, during the first year of Myron H. Clark's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1846, 32 Senators were elected in single-seat senatorial districts for a two-year term, the whole Senate being renewed biennially. The senatorial districts (except those in New York City) were made up of entire counties. 128 Assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts to a one-year term, the whole Assembly being renewed annually. The Assembly districts were made up of entire towns, or city wards, forming a contiguous area, all in the same county. The City and County of New York was divided into four senatorial districts, and 16 Assembly districts.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.

The Democratic Party was split into two factions: the Hard-Shells (or Hards) and the Soft-Shells (or Softs). In 1848, the Democratic Party had been split into Barnburners and Hunkers. The Barnburners left the party, and ran as the Free Soil Party, with presidential candidate Martin Van Buren. Afterwards the larger part of the Free Soilers re-joined the Democratic Party. During the following years, the Hunkers split over the question of reconciliation with the Barnburners. The Hards were against it, denying the Barnburners to gain influence in the Party. The Softs favored reconciliation with the intention of maintaining enough strength to win the elections. Both Hards and Softs favored a compromise on the slavery question: to maintain the status quo and to leave the decision to the local population in new Territories or States if they want slavery or not, as expressed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Barnburners were against the permission of slavery in new Territories or States, but were now the minority in the party. The small faction of the Free Soil Party which advocated abolition of slavery, now known as the "Free Democratic Party", endorsed the Whig nominees Clark and Raymnond.

The Whig Party was in the process of disintegrating. The radical anti-slavery Whigs formed the Anti-Nebraska Party, the moderate anti-slavery wing became the Republican Party in other States, but still retained the Whig label in New York. Most of the Whigs which favored a compromise, or preferred to sidestep the issue, joined the Know Nothing movement which ran as the American Party.

About this time the Temperance movement began to enter politics to advocate legal and/or political measures to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, and endorsed candidates of the major parties who favored prohibition. At this election, they endorsed the Whig nominees Clark and Raymond.

Elections

The 1854 New York state election was held on November 7. Due to the Democratic split, the whole Whig ticket was elected. State Senator Myron H. Clark and New York Times publisher Henry J. Raymond were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Clark defeated the incumbent Gov. Horatio Seymour (Soft) by a plurality of only 309 votes. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote on Governor was: Whig/Anti-Nebraska/Temperance/Free Democratic/Anti-Rent fusion 156,800; Soft 156,500; American 122,000, and Hard 34,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the Old State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1855; and adjourned on April 14.

DeWitt C. Littlejohn (W) was elected Speaker.

On January 22, Josiah B. Williams (W) was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate.

On February 6, the Legislature re-elected U.S. Senator William H. Seward (W) to a second six-year term, beginning on March 4, 1855.

On March 2, Richard M. Blatchford (W) was elected Speaker pro tempore of the Assembly.

On April 9, the Legislature passed "An Act for the prevention of Intemperance, Pauperism and Crime", thus enacting Prohibition.^[1] The law was declared unconstitutional in March 1856 by the New York Court of Appeals, thus repealing Prohibition.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties
• 2nd District: Kings County
• 3rd District: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wards of New York City
• 4th District: 7th, 10th, 13th and 17th wards of New York City
• 5th District: 8th, 9th and 14th wards of New York City
• 6th District: 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd wards of New York City
• 7th District: Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
• 8th District: Columbia and Dutchess counties
• 9th District: Orange and Sullivan counties
• 10th District: Greene and Ulster counties
• 11th District: Albany and Schenectady counties
• 12th District: Rensselaer County
• 13th District: Saratoga and Washington counties
• 14th District: Clinton, Essex and Warren counties
• 15th District: Franklin and St. Lawrence counties
• 16th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties
• 17th District: Delaware and Schoharie counties
• 18th District: Chenango and Otsego counties
• 19th District: Oneida County
• 20th District: Madison and Oswego counties
• 21st District: Jefferson and Lewis counties
• 22nd District: Onondaga County
• 23rd District: Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties
• 24th District: Cayuga and Wayne counties
• 25th District: Seneca, Tompkins and Yates counties
• 26th District: Chemung and Steuben counties
• 27th District: Monroe County
• 28th District: Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties
• 29th District: Livingston and Ontario counties
• 30th District: Allegany and Wyoming counties
• 31st District: Erie County
• 32nd District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties

Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Party affiliations follow the vote on U.S. Senator.^[2]

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Hugh Halsey*	Dem.-Hard
2nd	James H. Hutchins*	Dem.-Hard
3rd	Thomas J. Barr*	Dem.-Hard
4th	Thomas R. Whitney*	American	on November 7, 1854, elected to the 34th U.S. Congress
5th	Mark Spencer*	Dem.-Soft
6th	Erastus Brooks*	American
7th	William H. Robertson*	Whig
8th	Robert A. Barnard*	Whig
9th	John D. Watkins*	Dem.-Hard
10th	Eliakim Sherrill*	Whig
11th	Clarkson F. Crosby*	Whig
12th	Elisha N. Pratt*	Whig
13th	James C. Hopkins*	Whig	also Postmaster of Granville
14th	George Richards*	Whig
15th	Zenas Clark*	Dem.-Soft
16th	George Yost*	Whig
17th	Peter S. Danforth*	Dem.-Hard
18th	Adam Storing*	Democrat
19th	Daniel G. Dorrance*	Whig
20th	Simon C. Hitchcock*	Democrat
21st	Robert Lansing*	Democrat
22nd	James Munroe*	Whig
23rd	George W. Bradford*	Whig
24th	William Clark*	Whig
25th	Josiah B. Williams*	Whig	on January 22, elected president pro tempore
26th	Andrew B. Dickinson*	Whig
27th	William S. Bishop*	Whig
28th	Ben Field*	Whig
29th	William H. Goodwin	American	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Myron H. Clark: took his seat on February 5
30th	Martin Butts*	Whig
31st	James O. Putnam*	American
32nd	Alvah H. Walker*	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Hugh J. Hastings
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Joseph Garlinghouse
• Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Hiram M. Eaton
• Doorkeeper: Samuel R. Tuell
• Assistant Doorkeeper: Almond Becker

State Assembly

Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued as members of this Legislature.

Party affiliations follow the vote on U.S. Senator.^[3]

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Pryse Campbell
	2nd	Martin J. Blessing	American
	3rd	Alexander Davidson	Whig
	4th	James B. Van Etten	American	previously a member from Chemung Co.[4]
Allegany	1st	Lucien B. Johnson	Whig
	2nd	Lucius S. May*	Whig
Broome		Charles McKinney	Whig
Cattaraugus	1st	Alexander Storrs	Dem.-Hard
	2nd	James Kirkland*	Whig
Cayuga	1st	Moore Conger	Dem.-Soft
	2nd	David L. Dodge	Democrat
	3rd	William B. Woodin	Whig
Chautauqua	1st	Samuel S. Whallon	American	voted for Dix; on November 6, 1855, elected a Canal Commissioner
	2nd	Francis W. Palmer*	American
Chemung		Orrin Robinson	Whig
Chenango	1st	Daniel Palmer	Whig
	2nd	Lewis Fairchild	Whig
Clinton		Josiah T. Everest	Whig
Columbia	1st	David Rhoda	Whig
	2nd	Elisha W. Bushnell	Whig
Cortland		John H. Knapp	Whig
Delaware	1st	William B. Smith	Dem.-Soft
	2nd	Ezekiel Miller	Whig
Dutchess	1st	Albert Emans	American
	2nd	Joseph E. Allen	Dem.-Hard
	3rd	Ambrose Wager	Dem.-Soft
Erie	1st	William W. Weed*	American
	2nd	Daniel Devening Jr.	Dem.-Soft
	3rd	Lorenzo D. Covey	Dem.-Hard
	4th	Seth W. Goddard	American
Essex		Nathaniel C. Boynton	Whig
Franklin		Edward Fitch	Whig
Fulton and Hamilton		Wesley Gleason*	Whig
Genesee	1st	Ambrose Stevens	Dem.-Hard
	2nd	David Mallory	Whig
Greene	1st	Martin L. Rickerson	Whig
	2nd	John C. Palmer	Free Dem.
Herkimer	1st	Edmund G. Chapin	Free Dem.
	2nd	William Bridenbecker	Dem.-Soft
Jefferson	1st	Calvin Littlefield*	Whig
	2nd	Moses Eames	Whig
	3rd	Joshua Main	Whig
Kings	1st	Augustus H. Ivans	Dem.-Hard	unsuccessfully contested by David S. Mills[5]
	2nd	George A. Searing	Dem.-Hard
	3rd	John H. Rhodes	American
Lewis		Aaron Parsons	Dem.-Soft
Livingston	1st	Lyman Odell	Dem.-Hard
	2nd	McNiel Seymour	Dem.-Hard
Madison	1st	Gilbert Tompkins	Whig
	2nd	Aaron B. Brush	Whig
Monroe	1st	Benjamin Smith	Whig
	2nd	John W. Stebbins	Whig
	3rd	Nehemiah P. Stanton Jr.	Free Dem.
Montgomery	1st	Aaron W. Hull*	Whig
	2nd	Hezekiah Baker*	Whig
New York	1st	David O'Keefe	Dem.-Soft
	2nd	Robert B. Coleman	Whig
	3rd	Patrick H. Maguire*	Dem.-Hard	voted for Seward
	4th	John D. Dixon	Dem.-Hard
	5th	Edwin L. Smith	Dem.-Soft
	6th	William B. Aitken*	Dem.-Hard
	7th	Charles C. Leigh*	Dem.-Soft	voted for Seward
	8th	Theodore Stuyvesant	Whig
	9th	Robert J. Jimmerson	Whig
	10th	Nicholas Seagrist	Dem.-Soft
	11th	Joseph H. Petty	American
	12th	William G. McLaughlin	Dem.-Soft
	13th	Richard M. Blatchford	Whig	on March 2, elected Speaker pro tempore
	14th	Thomas J. Munday	Dem.-Hard
	15th	Aras G. Williams	American
	16th	John S. Cocks	American
Niagara	1st	Linus Jones Peck	American
	2nd	Ira Tompkins	Whig
Oneida	1st	George D. Williams	Whig
	2nd	Levi Blakeslee	Whig
	3rd	Hezekiah H. Beecher	Whig
	4th	Daniel Walker	Whig
Onondaga	1st	James M. Munro*	Free Dem.	voted for Seward
	2nd	William J. Machan	Whig
	3rd	Dudley P. Phelps	Whig
	4th	Joshua V. H. Clark	Whig
Ontario	1st	William H. Lamport	American
	2nd	Oliver Case	Democrat
Orange	1st	Joel T. Headley	American/Temp.	on November 6, 1855, elected Secretary of State of New York
	2nd	Samuel Beyea	Whig
	3rd	James Bennett	Whig
Orleans		Elisha S. Whalen	American	Assemblyman-elect Alexis Ward died on November 28, 1854;[6] Whalen elected to fill the vacancy on December 26, 1854
Oswego	1st	DeWitt C. Littlejohn*	Whig	elected Speaker
	2nd	Jacob M. Selden	Free Dem.	contested, vacated on March 8[7]
		Andrew S. Warner		seated on March 8
Otsego	1st	Henry H. Davy	Dem.-Soft
	2nd	Alonzo Churchill	Whig
	3rd	William Comstock	Whig
Putnam		James J. Smalley*	Dem.-Hard
Queens		James Rider	Free Dem.
Rensselaer	1st	Jonathan Edwards*	Whig
	2nd	Nicholas M. Masters	Democrat
	3rd	Edmond Cole	Whig
Richmond		John F. Raymond	Whig
Rockland		John W. Ferdon	American
St. Lawrence	1st	Asaph Green	Free Dem.
	2nd	Silas Baldwin*	Whig
	3rd	Levi Miller*	Dem.-Soft
Saratoga	1st	Cornelius Schuyler	Whig
	2nd	John Terhune	Whig
Schenectady		James Donnan	Whig
Schoharie	1st	Wilkinson Wilsey	Whig
	2nd	Joseph H. Ramsey	Whig
Seneca		Daniel S. Kendig	American
Steuben	1st	Seth B. Cole	Whig
	2nd	Sylvester Smith	Whig
	3rd	Peter C. Ward	Dem.-Soft
Suffolk	1st	John E. Chester	American
	2nd	David Platt	Whig
Sullivan		William H. Buckley	Dem.-Hard
Tioga		Carlisle P. Johnson	Whig
Tompkins	1st	Frederick S. Dumont	Whig
	2nd	Justus P. Pennoyer	Whig
Ulster	1st	Theodore B. Gates	American
	2nd	Asa S. Wygant	American
Warren		Reuben Wells	Whig
Washington	1st	James I. Lourie	Whig
	2nd	Justin A. Smith	Democrat
Wayne	1st	James T. Wisner	Whig
	2nd	John P. Bennett*	Whig
Westchester	1st	Daniel Hunt	Whig
	2nd	Frederick W. Waterbury	American	voted for Dickinson
Wyoming		John C. Paine	Whig
Yates		Jacob B. Van Osdol	Whig

Employees

• Clerk: Richard U. Sherman
• Sergeant-at-Arms: Byron Ellsworth
• Doorkeeper: Harmon Groesbeck
• First Assistant Doorkeeper: Samuel Hall
• Second Assistant Doorkeeper: William Buttro

Notes

1. see full text in Laws of the State of New York (78th Session) (1855; Chap. 231, pg. 340–356)
2. The Whigs voted for Seward. Of the Democratic Senators, five voted for the Hard leader Daniel S. Dickinson; Spencer and Z. Clark voted for known Soft politicians; Hitchcock and Lansing voted for Supreme Court Justice William F. Allen; and Storing was absent; see STATE AFFAIRS; Election of a U.S. Senator in NYT on February 7, 1855
3. The Whigs voted for Seward, the Hards for Dickinson, the Softs for Ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour. The remaining Assemblymen considered themselves independent. Those who voted for Dix were the Anti-Slavery Democrats, formerly known as Free Soilers. Those who voted for Ex-Gov. Washington Hunt and Ex-U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore were at this time Know Nothings, although Hunt presided over a "Whig" convention in 1856 which endorsed the Know Nothing candidate Fillmore for the presidency.
4. James B. Van Etten, died December 19, 1856, aged 41 years; see The Annals of Albany by Joel Munsell (pg. 357)
5. Mills claimed that the name of the assemblyman was "August Ivins", and that votes given for "Augustus H. Ivans" (a large majority over Mills) should be disqualified, but the Committee on Elections refused to consider this argument; see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 293f)
6. see Bio of Alexis Ward at New York Roots
7. see A Compilation of Cases of Contested Elections to Seats in the Assembly of the State of New York (1871; pg. 279–292)

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) [pg. 109 for Senate districts; pg. 137 for senators; pg. 148–157 for Assembly districts; pg. 248ff for assemblymen]
• Journal of the Senate (78th Session) (1855)
• Journal of the Assembly (78th Session) (1855; Vol. 2)